The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, expressed his support for the move of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya regarding the “4+4” mini-dialogue committee agreement, signed between representatives of the Libyan parties at the end of August, amid objections from the head of the Supreme Council of State, Mohamed Takala.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General, conveyed on Wednesday that Guterres and the UN mission welcomed the House of Representatives’ support for the agreement signed on August 30, and considered it “an important step forward,” contributing to the efforts aimed at overcoming the ongoing political stalemate in the country.
The UN mission went on to confirm, in a statement, its commitment to supporting “the political process led and owned by Libyans” to get out of the political impasse, unify and strengthen national institutions, and create conditions for holding “comprehensive and credible” presidential and parliamentary elections, in line with the aspirations of the Libyan people.
The UN position came after the House of Representatives announced, during a session held in Benghazi headed by Aguila Saleh, its approval of the agreement, which the UN mission welcomed the next day, considering the Council’s approval a step that can be built upon to advance the political and electoral process.
On the other hand, the head of the Supreme Council of State, Mohamed Takala, objected to the mission’s move regarding the political process and the bodies related to the elections, and considered in a letter to Guterres that the mission “brought together people who do not have an authorized representative status” on behalf of sovereign institutions.
Takala believed that preparing outcomes related to the structure of the political process and restructuring electoral bodies “go beyond the task of international facilitation, and affect the competencies and sovereignty of Libyan institutions,” calling for building on the consensus of the joint “6+6” committee between the House of Representatives and the “state,” instead of parallel paths.
The head of the Supreme Council of State called on Guterres to ensure that the mission adheres to its mandate and the terms of reference of the Libyan Political Agreement, and not to legitimize “paths of limited representation,” in an objection that reflects the continuing dispute over who is authorized to manage the political and electoral process.
At the end of August, representatives of the Libyan parties in the “4+4” committee signed an agreement sponsored by the United Nations regarding the restructuring of the High National Elections Commission and the review of legislation regulating the electoral process, within a 24-month road map that aims to create conditions for the elections.
Dr. Saleh Al-Makhzoum, professor of public law at the University of Tripoli, believes that some members of the Supreme Council of State are repeating the approach of “procrastinating and buying time,” as happened before the Skhirat Agreement, ignoring the change in the international community’s motives towards the Libyan crisis.
Al-Makhzoum also believes that the current pressure factors are “more complex,” due to the intersection of security, economy, oil, and international competition. He warned that disrupting the “4+4” path, or reproducing the differences through “6+6” may narrow the options, stressing that “work now must be to win the state and not to buy time,” according to a post on his Facebook account.
In parallel, the United Nations mission intensified its contacts with political forces, officials and youth from different regions, in an effort to expand the base of political support for the “4+4” agreement, and to link it to a broader path that accommodates the different positions regarding the transitional phase and the elections.
The municipalities of southern Libya have once again imposed themselves at the forefront of the political conflict between the two competing governments in the east and west of the country, after the decision of the parliament-designated government in Benghazi, headed by Osama Hammad, to suspend 12 mayors from work and subject them to investigation, against the backdrop of their visit to the capital, Tripoli, and meeting with officials in the “National Unity” government and in the General Electricity Company.
The Hammad government has not yet issued a comment clarifying the circumstances of the decision, or the nature of the violations attributed to the deans, at a time when the move raised objection from the concerned deans, who saw that their movements to Tripoli came within the framework of following up on the needs of their regions, and coordinating on service files.
From the first moment of the issuance of the decision of the Ministry of Local Government in the Hammad government, the arrested mayors maintained the validity of their position, in a joint statement on Tuesday evening, saying that their visit to Tripoli came “within the framework of communication and coordination” regarding the needs of their service areas, and they expressed their surprise that measures had been taken against them, pointing to the participation of mayors of other municipalities in similar meetings without similar measures being taken against them.
The new Algerian parliament, emerging from the legislative elections that took place on July 2, begins its work today, Wednesday, within its first legislative session, with the urgent file of reviewing the penal code at the top of its agenda. The anticipated amendment aims to activate the death penalty against anyone found guilty of deliberately setting fires to forests, in addition to those convicted of crimes of killing and abusing children.
This legislative move comes in response to President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s announcement of his desire to lift the effective freeze on the death penalty, against the backdrop of the wave of devastating forest fires that struck several regions in the east of the country during the summer, leaving dozens of victims and massive property losses. Although Algerian courts have continued to pronounce death sentences, their implementation has remained practically frozen since 1993.
